– Drew Ingram

I remember the Confirmation lesson the week I was cut from the basketball team. I was telling myself that I was not good enough at basketball or at anything. The Confirmation lesson title was, “G.O.G.G.: The Gift Of God’s Grace.” We read Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

I heard, understood, and resonated with the truth that no matter what I told myself, God loved me; that love was a gift not because of anything I had done or failed to do.

In the time that followed that moment, all I wanted to do was share this love. Of course, there have been times where I lost this focus and drive. This is why I give thanks to God for the church that shows and tells me the good news of God’s grace and love as we study scripture, remember our baptisms, confess where we have fallen short and hear God’s forgiveness, and come to the table where everyone receives Christ’s body and blood in bread and wine.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

This reality does change everything. It means each and every one of us are set free from the things that turn us in on ourselves. We are free to share God’s love with others. God’s grace and the faithfulness of Christ empower us to remind people that they are loved just as they are, not because they have earned it.

Where you are now, and in Houston in 2018, you are set free to share God’s love with everyone you encounter. Share a meal with someone who is hungry. Listen to someone’s story. Tell them they are loved.

Rev. Drew Ingram is pastor at Spirit in the Hills Lutheran in Spicewood, Texas

– Pastor David Lose

The world is changing – okay, major, major understatement. The world is changing like it has never changed before! Yeah, that’s more like it.

Think about it: The way we communicate. The way we create meaning. The way we craft our identity. The way we innovate and work and share ourselves and our lives. Just about all of it is changing, which means the church needs to change as well, particularly if it is to have a future in reaching out to the emerging generations.

By “church” I mean congregations, camps, synods, seminaries—all of it. For a very long time church institutions like these could count on a certain level of support from the culture—kind of a tacit commitment to encourage people to go to church—but that has pretty much vanished. Not that the culture is hostile to faith; more that it’s indifferent. Which means our congregations (and camps and all the rest) cannot afford to see themselves as “spiritual destinations,” waiting for the crowds to show up on Sunday, but instead need to be “spiritual training centers,” where people come to learn more about their faith and leave confident they can practice and share it.

This kind of change is risky. It can make people nervous, even mad. And you might fail. After all, no one quite knows the best way to be church in this new world just yet. But it’s worth the risk. We can take those risks because of the promise that we are saved not by getting it right or by having all the answers, but by grace.

When we set out to unite two seminaries that have been separated for a century and a half, that indeed made some people nervous (and some mad). But you know what—it also made some people excited, hopeful, and feel brave enough themselves to take a risk. Grace changes everything, and one of the things it changes is us—we are free to risk and experiment and live into a future that is unknown but still fashioned and held by God.

The Rev. Dr. David J. Lose currently serves as the president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP).